A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal, 1669 to 1679

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Cambridge: Printed for the Hakluyt Society

Abstract

Thomas Bowrey (c.1650-1713) was an English seaman and hydrographer who, about 1669, was employed by the English East India Company at Fort St. George, Madras (now Chennai). For some 20 years, Bowrey called at ports around the Bay of Bengal, and his proficiency in the Malay language led to the publication of the first Malay-English dictionary (1701). He was also the first Westerner to provide a written description of consuming cannabis in the form of bhang, an Indian marijuana beer, admitting that mixing it with tobacco was ‘a very Speedy way to be besotted.’ Based on Bowrey’s manuscript, this Hakluyt Society publication filled a gap in the early history of the English in Bengal, Madras and the Malay Archipelago. The pen and ink drawings are by Bowrey.